MEDICAL

CENTER
BEATS
BERNIE
BURLINGTON
B
urlington Mayor Bernie
Sanders reacted with
disappointment this
week to Superior Court J udge
John Meaker's decision in
which he declared the Medi-
cal Center Hospital of Ver-
mont (MCHV) is indeed a
"charitable" institution and
should not have to pay a S2.8
million property tax bill the
city sent out in June.
Tuesday afternoon, sbortly
after the decision was released,
t her e was a mi xt ur e of di sap-
pointment and disbelief
among city officials, qualified CABLE TV D" 'ES TO SKYROCKET?
by a feeling that "it ain't over nII"ll
till it's over" and the view that
the city had faced a difficult
bat t le when it set out t o chal-
lenge the hospital's tax-exempt
status.
At the hospital, President
James Taylor offered re-
strained ecstacy, and MCHV's
at t or ney. Spencer Knapp,
breathed a sigh of relief. Be-
fore the court's decision was
released, Knapp joked he
would need to buy either cham-
pagne or r azor blades.
Wi t h Ci t y At t or neys Joe
McNeil and John Franco Jr.
looking like they just got
bopped on the head with a
baseball bat, Sanders com-
mented with restraint. But he
also expressed disbelief that
the judge bad declared that
the institution, whicb bas been
at the top of Sanders' political
hit Ji st , was in fact "charitable,"
" Fr om a common sense
point of view. DOl a legal poi nt
of view, I lind it very hard to
under st and what t he wor d
cbaritable means," said Sand-
ers, wben the hospital provides
f r ee car e t hat equals I per cent
of pat i ent r evenues, pays t op
salaries and spends, he said, a
" gr eat deal of t i me houndi ng
people" for payment.
Sanders described Meaker's
r uli ng as " f r i ght eni ng" be-
cause, he sai d, almost ever y
institution probably dedicates
a por t i on of i t s r evenues t o
char i t able causes.
" How many attorneys don't
provide pro bono work?' he
asked.
Meaker 's deci si on was cat -
egorical. Not even the parking
garage was declared tobe sub-
ject totaxation. In his 36-page
WI LLISTON
bi g t hey can f i nance i t i nt er - ny, and to f i nd out why t he McGill said Adelphia, which
nally" without having to break ent i r e ci t y, i ncludi ng sect i ons has been inbusiness since 1952
The sale of Vermont's larg- t he back of r at epayer s, Pr ess of Church Street, still has not and owns syst ems wi t h a t ot al
est cable t elevi si on com- added. been wi r ed f or cable relevi- of 500,000 customers. should
pany t o an out-of-state Adelphi a and Mount ai n si on ser vi ce. be able t o li mi t t he amount of
company for awhoppingSI 17 Cable must also show, Pr ess Mount ai n Cable Pr esi dent r at e i ncr eases because t hey are
mi lli on has r ai sed concer ns at sai d, t hat t he pur chase i s i n Robert McGill, who said he a lar ge company t hat can buy
the Public Service Department t he " publi c good" and t hat " i f wi ll st ay on wi t h t be new com- pr oduct s li k.e pr ogr ams i n
t hat r at es f or cable subscr i ber s t he acqui si t i on r esult s only in party, sai d Mount ai n Cable, bulk.
will skyrocket. a change of owner shi p and whi ch has 59.000 cust omer s
McGill described Adelphia
i ncr eased rates.I don't see how t hr oughout t he st at e, needs a
Adelphi a Communi cat i ons
t hat 's i n the publi c i nt er est ." r at e i ncr ease r egar dless of
as a family- run company led
Corp., which isheadquartered
While the PSB must approve whet her t he company i s sold.
by cable pi oneer John Ri gas,
i n Pennsylvani a and alr eady
t he sale, i t no longer has t he " We've got some f i nanci al
whom he described as a "bene-
owns a number of cable sys- volent and honest Godf at her "
terns along the East Coast,
power t o cont r ol r at e i ncr eases st r ai ns now. We need a r at e
i n t he communi t y wher e he
since the US Congress ordered i ncr ease," McGi ll sai d.
agreed last week to buy Moun-
in 1984thatthe cable industry Not only did the market for
lives i n northwest Pennsyl-
tain Cable f or almost t hr ee vani a.
times the $44.5 million it sold
be f r ee f r om regulation. cable syst ems " go cr azy" 1 0 1 -
for in 1984.
That order from Congress lowi ng f eder al der egulat i on, The sale had been in the
was made cr yst al clear ear li er McGUJ sai d, ot her s i nvolved wor ks si nce ear li er t hi s sum-
The concer n at t he Publi c t hi s year , when Super i or Cour t i n t he i ndust r y, li ke t hose who 'mer. McGi ll sai d t he Moun-
Ser vi ce Depar t ment , whi ch J udge Matthew Katz declared sell programs to the cable com- tain Cable i nvest or s r equest ed
advi ses the Publi c Ser vi ce a sect i on of an agr eement panies, also hi ked t hei r r at es. t he company be put on t he
Boar d on ut i li t y cases, i s t hat bet ween Mount ai n Cable and McGill said hedid not know mar ket and sai d t hat , whi le
" because of t he hi gh pr i ce t he ci t y of Bur li ngt on t hat how much r at es would in- t he pur chase pr i ce i s enor-
pai d, t her e could be f i nanci al would have r egulat ed r at e i n- cr ease and sai d determining mous, i t would be whi t t led
pr essur e t o i ncr ease r at es t o cr eases t o be i llegal and con- t hat i nvolved " a lot of number down by S30 million in deb..
car r y t hat i nvest ment ," ac- trary t o f eder aJ i nt ent . cr unchi ng and r eadi ng t ea and at t or ney f ees.
cor di ng t o PSD at t or ney Kat z's deci si on i s on appeal leaves." Rat es went f r om Still, McGill, who was one
Samuel Press. The PSD has t o t he Ver mont Supr eme SIO.5Oto S12.5O per month of six partners and laoin-
not t aken a posi t i on on t he Cour t , accor di ng t o Assi st ant f or basi c ser vi ce i n Januar y. vestors when Cox Cable sold
sale, but Press said the depart- City Attorney J ohn Franco J r., However , he also sai d t hat the system to Mountain Cable
ment wi ll r equest t he compa who sai d t he ci t y would i nt er - " no one who's ser i ous about i n 1984. admi t t ed, " I'm not
ny pr ovi de f i nanci al informa- vene on t he PSB appli cat i on t hi s busi ness is goi ng t o push goi ng t o ar gue t hat I won't
tion t o gauge " what sor t of t o make sur e t hat ot her parts t he envelope" and t r y t o have t o wor r y about t ui t i on
I f i nanci al I pr essur es t her e ar e. of t he agr eement would be char ge mor e t han t he mar ket money for my kids."
"They may say they're so honor ed by t he new ccmpa- will bear . M.rk Johneon
decision, thejudge used strong mar ket r at es f or i t s employ- Iy, referring to the court battle, palms have been sweating. Did
language to shoot down some ees may only r esult i n at t r act - t he uni on dr i ve at t he hospi t al I t hi nk i t would come out t hi s
of the city's argumen ts. i ng medi cal pr of essi onals who and numer ous appear ances way? Yes."
The city claimed, for exam- value t hei r ser vi ces at less t han before the Hospital Data Coun-
At t or ney Fr anci s Mur r ay,
pie, that there was doubt about pr evai li ng mar ket r at es. Thi s cil. " I may even ask: f or a raise,"
who r epr esent ed the city ,sai d
the hospital's tax-exempt sta- cour t i s not pr epar ed t o con- he added.
he was "surprised because I
tus, because st at e st at ut es r ef er elude t hat i n or der t o be char-
Asked if he expected that
t hought our case was compel-
only to hospital property that itable, an i nst i t ut i on must pro-
t he deci si on would qui et t he
ling, but that's what this busi-
is leased out as liable to being vi de ser vi ces t hat ar e second
mayor , Taylor sai d, " I beli eve
ness i s all about ."
taxed. The city's argument was best."
t he mayor has been consi st ent
Said Sanders: "Of course
t hat one cannot assume by
None of the ci t y's argu- i n what he beli eves and what
I'm disappointed," adding, "I
implication that property that
ment s-f r om allegat i ons t hat he has said before the trial
think our at t or neys di d a f an-
isnot leased out should be tax
t he hospi t al " def lect ed" pa- and dur i ng hi s ent i r e t i me i n
tastic j ob and I t hi nk t hey
exempt .
tients and t hat hospi t al t r us- office. My guess is he's not
made t he case. What we also
But as f or t hat ar gument ,
tees improperly benefited from goi ng t o change hi s appr oach
under st ood f r om the ver y be-
Meaker, i n language reminis-
t hei r ser vi ce on t he boar d of t o healt h car e and our institu-
gi nni ng i s you don't go i nt o a
cent of Sander s' poli t i cal rhet-
t r ust ees t o t he cont ent i on t hat t i on because of this decision."
court and ask a j udge t o set
or i e, sai d " st at ut es should not
t op admi ni st r at or s pr of i t ed
Knapp said he was "thriUed"
aside I00 years of precedent
be const r ued i n such a way
when the hospital did well-
by t he r uli ng. " To gi ve you a
and malee a deci si on whi ch
t hat will lead t o i r r at i onal or
appear ed t o car r y any wat er
has not only st at ewi de impli-
absur d consequences."
wi t h Meaker .
candid response, 1tbnught that
cat i ons but also pr obably
t he law and t he f act s wer e ver y
As f or t he ci t y's ar gument s
Taylor, whose salary of ap-
much i n our f avor and t bat
nat i onal i mpli cat i ons. I mean,
proximately 5140,000 per year
the great weight of legal au-
you don't go i n t her e and say
t hat t op admi ni st r at or s ar e
you have asure thing. I think
over pai d, Meaker not ed, " In
was an i ssue dur i ng t he t r i al,
~hority was on the hospital's
said he was happy for the hos-
side and 1would have been
we knew f r om t he begi nni ng
our soci et y t oday we must
pital's patients and those in
very surprised by any other
this would beadifficult case."
expect people to be compen-
other hospitals throughout the
decision," said Knapp. "On the Sanders said he believed
sated for their labor. They
st at e, whom, he sai d. would
other hand, this [judge] has
" hi st or y wi U be on our si de."
have basic needs for food,
clothing, shelter, and other
have been " at r i sk" i f t he ci t y
been deliberating for six weeks
Then,t umi ng t o t he ci t y attor-
aspi r at i ons commensurate
had won.
and you do get ner vous as t i me neys, added, "It may well be.
with their earnings. To require
" I f eel some of us have r eal-
passes, wondering what the shall I say, that this case isnot
a maj or medi cal cent er t o
Iyearned our salaries this sum-
judge is thinking. Sobave I
over yet ."
operate by peyins I... duIII
mer," Taylor said haltseri" ...
had any anxiety? Sure, my
M.rk John.on